Toilet roll support for recessed wall fixtures



May 14, 19402 P. D. PARsoNs 2,201,052

TOILET ROLL SUPPORT FOR"R`CESSED WALL FIXTURES Filed Feb. 8, 1938' atentecl May 14, 1946 TOILET ROLL SUPPORT FOR RECESSED WALL FIXTURES Philip D. Parsons, Swarthmore, Pa., assigner to Scott Paper Company, Chester, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 8, 1938, Serial No. 189,437

l 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in toilet roll fixtures, and more particularly in fixtures of the "recessed type wherein the roll is supported by a spindle suitably mounted in a 5; wall recess.

A principle object of the invention is to provide, in a fixture of this typenovel means designed to perform the double function of facilitating removal of the spindle for replacement of exhausted rolls and of imposing upon the roll a predetermined frictional resistance to turning as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

A type of toilet roll holder to which the invention specifically relates is illustrated in the attached drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the holder;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 1,

and f Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating a modification within the scope of the invention.

The standard type of toilet roll fixture illustrated in Fig. l comprises an open-faced box-like receptacle l conventionally made of porcelain and adapted to be set in a wall to provide in the llatter a recess for reception of the toilet roll 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the side walls 3, 3 of the receptacle l are formed nteriorly with recesses '8, 4 which receive the trunnioned ends 5 and 5 of a spindle 'l upon which in assembly the roll 2 is supported. In order to provide for insertion and withdrawal of the spindle, the latter is made hollow, being provided with an axial recess 8 which extends inwardly from one end of the spindle body, and the trunnion 5 is formed at one end of a plunger S which is slidably mounted in the recess 8. A coiled spring l in the bottom of the recess 8 exerts pressure upon the inner end of the plunger 9 tending to force'the plunger toward the open end of the recess, and the plunger is maintained in the recess against the pressure of the spring lll through the medium of a pin il which passes through the wall of the recess 8 and through a longitudinal slot l2 in the plunger 9. By reason of the slot l2, the plunger 9 may be pressed inwardly against the tension of the spring Ill to thereby reduce the overall or effective length of the spindle 1.

Insofar as described above, the spindle 1 is of conventional form. In mounting the toilet roll in the fixture, the spindle is inserted through the cylindrical core I3 of the roll, the trunnion 6 then inserted in one of the recesses 4 in the receptacle, and the trunnion 9 forced inwardly against the spring I0 sufficiently to permit that end of (ci. `24a-55a) the spindle to pass inwardly along the side wall of the receptacle until the trunnion enters the recess 4 in that wall; or a reverse procedure may be followed by first inserting the trunnion 5 in one of the recesses 4, and then forcing the body of the spindle l longitudinally against the pressure of the spring lll suiciently to `admit the trunnion 6 to the other of the trunnion recesses in the receptacle.

This form of spindle has a highly objectionable feature residing in the diiiculty of removing the spindle from the receptacle either before or after the paper in the roll has become exhausted. Thus when they paper in the `roll has been exhausted, the presence of the stili cardboard core I3 of the roll upon the spindle` prevents the gripping of the body of the spindle l by the fingers with sulcient `firmness to effect the longitudinal adjustment of the said body against the tension of the spring l0 required to release the trunnion 6 from its recess 4. The spindle is so closely confined within the recessed receptacle, on the other hand, that the ends are not accessible to the fingers for exerting the axial pressure required for release, and it is usually necessary, therefore, to cut or tear away the roll core from the spindle before the latter can be released. lt is even more diiicult, as sometimes becomes necessary, to remove a roll that is only partially exhausted. This spindle has proved a serious annoyance, and has resulted in considerable adverse criticism of this otherwise highly desirable form of roll fixture.

Another annoying characteristic heretofore found in this type of iixture was the tendency of the roll to turn too freely, so that even a slight pull exerted upon the free end of the paper strip had a tendency to unwind an excessively large amount of the paper from the roll. This resulted in a considerable waste of paper and in the necessity in withdrawing paper from the roll for employing both hands, one to control the turning of the roll and the other to tear off the strip.

' The principal object ofthe present invention is to eliminate the objectionable and annoying features described above,land by means involving no material departure from the conventional form of the devlce.

With further reference to Fig. 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that contrary to the conventional practice, the end of the spindle 'l which receives the plunger 9 is provided with a flange I4 which is fastened to the end ofl the spindle body and is sufliciently large in diameter to embrace or form a solid abutment for the addiiilculty of` removing the receptacle.

joining end of the paper roll 2. The flange I4 in eilect forms a shoulder at the end of the spindle which abuts the end of the'roll and of the tubular core I3. When with this device the paper of the roll isexhausted and it is desired to remove the spindle from the receptacle for insertion ci a fresh roll, it is only necessary to grasp the paper core I3 of the exhausted roll and to press the core longitudinally against the flange i fi, with the result that the body of the spindle l is moved against the tension of the spring iii and with respect to the plunger 9 suiciently to release the trunnion 5 from its recess i in the side wall of the receptacle. In this manner, the spindle may be readily withdrawn from the receptacle with complete elimination of the difficulties and annoyances experienced with the conventional form of spindle. Similarly, if it becomes necessary to remove a roll from the receptacle before the paper is exhausted, the ilange iii functions as described above to permit such withdrawal oi Vthe spindle and the roll without difculty.

In accordance with my invention, I employ the lll in another important function, for by dimensicning the spindle so that in normal assembled position the space between the iiange ifi and the opposite side wall oi the receptacle is somewhatA less than the axial length of the toilet roll, the action of the spring i@ in the interior of the spindle will press the flange against the end yof the toilet roll and will conne vthc roll axially under pressure between the flange and the said opposite side wall of the This limited friction sets up a braking action on the toilet roll which prevents the roll from turning too freely upon the spindle, or the spindle from turning too freely within the fixture, and thereby precludes the unwinding of excessive lengths of paper which sometimes results where the roll is entirely free, as with the spindles of the conventional form. In order to adjust the braking tension, I prefer, as shown in Fig. 2, `to make the trunnion E in the form of screw which is threaded into the body of the spindle 'i'. vBy adjusting this threaded trunni'on element outwardly of the spindle, the pressure placed by the spring it through the flange lli upon the roll is reduced; and by adjusting the trunnion 5 inwardly of the end of the spindle, the pressure may be increased. By

this means, the braking action uponthe roll may be adjusted to the most favorable amount. It is quite generally known in the art that the axial length of a standard or conventional toilet roll is four and one-half inches,A and, hence, when the vtrunrn'on 6 ,is once adjusted to set up the necessary braking tension on a roll of this axial length, repeated adjustment of the said trunnion is unnecessary. While the axial length ci such toiletrolls is highly standardized, there are occasional instances where the length of such a roll may depart slightly from this standard or conventional length, in which event the proper braking action may be readily eiected by adjustment of the vtrunnion 5.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that my invention eliminates vcompletely the aforesaid difficulty of removing the spindle experienced in this type of iixture with a spindle of conventional form, and that the invention in addition provides a simple and effective means for adequately tensioning the roll in the xture tc prevent the too great freedom of action that frequently results in the unwinding 'of unnecessarily great lengths of paper. With this tension control, the roll may be readily manipulated by one hand to withdraw the exact amount of paper required.

It will be apparent that the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 2 is subject to variation in structural form without departure from the principle of the invention. Thus in Fig. 3, I have illustated a method of forming the roll-abutting shoulder at the end of the spindle which differs from that disclosed in Fig. 2. In this case, the flange lila is formed with a cylindrical extension i5 which embraces the end of the body of the spindle la. The sleeve I5 is made in the present instance of sheet metal, and is secured to the body of the spindle by tongues It punched from the metal and forced inwardly so as to penetrate the wooden body of the spindle. The arrangement and form of the tongues I6 is such as to solidly retain the flange element ita-I5 on the spindle against the normal imposed pressures. It will be noted further that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular form or receptacle or spindle support herein illustrated, and that the invention in principle may find useful application to other forms of iixture and to fixtures adapted for holding paper towel and other rolls.

I claim:

l. A recessed roll fixture comprising an openfaced receptacle, a roll-supporting spindle comprising relatively movable telescoping parts providing for axial contraction of said spindle, a spring confined between said parts and normally retaining the spindle in extended condirespectively by said telescoping parts, being supported respectively in recesses in the opposite side walls of said receptacle, a flange on one of said parts remote from the wall-supported end thereof and spaced from said wall to an extent somewhat less than the axial dimension of a roll supported on the spindle whereby said roll is frictionally confined between the flange and said wall `by action of the spring, said flange thereby constituting a means for holding the roll against free rotation in the fixture and for xially moving the hanged telescoping part toward the other by pressure exerted through the roll or residual part thereof to thereby contract the spindle axially to an extent permitting retraction of the spindle from the fixture, and means for adjusting the effective length of the telescoping part carrying said flange to thereby provide for regulation of the frictional pressure exerted by the flange on theroll.

2. A toilet `roll fixture assembly comprising a receptacle of a shape adapted to receive therein a standard size roll of toilet paper and having top, bottom, rearand side walls and an open front, said side walls having aligned recesses therein; a spindle adapted to support a standard size toilet roll and comprising relatively movable inner and outer telescoping parts providing for axial expansion and contraction of said spindle, the opposite ends of said spindle formed respectively by said telescoping parts, being supported respectively in the recesses in the side walls of said receptacle; a spring confined bef tween said parts and normally retaining the spindle in axially expanded condition; and a flange on the outer part -oi said spindle remote from the wall supported end of said youter part and spaced from the wall supporting said end a distance somewhat less than the axial dimeni tion, the opposite ends of said spindle, formed sion of a standard size toilet roll adapted to be supported on the outer part of said spindle, whereby said toilet roll, when mounted on said spindle and placed within the receptacle with the opposite ends of the spindle supported Within the recesses in the side walls, is axially and resiliently confined by the spring between the flange and the side wall in which the end of the outer part of said spindle is supported, thereby holding the roll against free rotation in the receptacle.

PHILIP D. PARSONS. 

